About 12 weeks ago, I went bouldering for the 1st time. Zero pain while I was climbing. But, a little later that day I developed bad pain in my right wrist and very bad pain in my left wrist. It felt like the pain in each wrist was in the tendons.

About 3 weeks ago, I slipped on a tile floor and sprained my left wrist.

I didnít think either injury was that bad, but my wrists donít seem to be healing at all. The pain is still bad if I so much as try to hold a dish.

When I went to my doctor, he sent me to an orthopedist who said that itís an overuse injury of the flexor tendons in each wrist and also a sprain in the left wrist. Nothing is torn. Nothing is broken. His advice was to wear a brace 24/7, never pick up anything weighing more than a couple pounds, try not to drive, and never do anything that hurts. He thinks another half year to year to heal. I appreciate his advice, but itís not feasible for me.

At some points in my life, I might have been fine with waiting the year. However, this is an extremely inconvenient time to have my wrists out of commission. In the next few months, I either need to heal my wrists or to start working through the pain. I would be very open to any suggestions, possibly even if they were time-consuming or expensive.

1. Google a pic and mark where it hurts. For the computer illiterate (use MS paint to mark it, and imgur.com to upload). Tell me what tissue(s) it feels like it's hurting in, or if it's more superficial or deep in the joint?

2. What exercises hurt? Which wrist articulations hurt? Make sure you check both with passive motion (you moving the leg without it moving itself) and resistive/active motion (you moving it, and you moving it against force). Also tell me when and what movements during these exercises are eliciting the pain?http://www.exrx.net/Articulations/Wrist.html

3. What type of pain is it? Burning? Ache? Tingling? Sharp?

4. What would you rate the pain at on a 0/10 scale? 0 being no pain, 10 being go to the emergency room.

5. Acute or chronic (chronic more than ~8+ weeks)? What date was onset? How has the pain improved since the initial injury?

6. Have you been training through pain? If so, how long?

7. What have you been doing for recovery purposes? Do these recovery methods help?

8. What seems to help? What seems to make it worse? Is it constant? Does it increase/decrease with certain activities?

9. Check the tissue quality of the surrounding muscles. Which ones are tight? Which ones are tender? Is there any swelling?

10. How does it feel after exercise (if any)? How does it feel at the beginning of the day? How about the end of the day?

11. Any previous injury history?

12. How's your posture?

13. What is your current workout routine for that bodypart? Do you play any sports?

14. Any other information I should be aware of or that comes to mind that may help?